Word: kohl
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First, out of neighborly devotion. With air travel, e-mail and global markets, Europe is at America's doorstep. Second, for America's own economic protection. While America turns a blind eye, Europe is gathering strength. Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Helmut Kohl and the other European leaders are not waiting for America's balance to tip toward Europe but are shaping their own future. And 11 of the 15 European Union countries have qualified to participate in the new common currency of the European Union, the Euro, which will become the currency of Europe next...
...Kohl's enthusiasm for the talent and creativity of the individual saturates each child's profile, giving the impression of a teacher as excitable and enthusiastic about the process of learning as the most idealized of students. Kohl also shows the reader the dark side of his experiences as an educator, placing considerable emphasis on the squalid conditions in which his students spent forty hours a week. He lambastes indifferent school directors and educational boards with as much zeal as he supports the creative power of his students. Kohl points out case after case of wasted time and money, antiquated...
...Kohl draws stiff lines early and often between the educational policies he perceives as detrimental or constructive. While his outrage vented toward the policies of the New York Board of Education is reasonable, he has left at least one reader unconvinced of its necessity. For all his good intentions, Kohl tends to crowd educational instructors into anti-and pro-groups, conveniently dichotomized so that all who share his beliefs are members of the latter. Teachers who advocate distance between teacher and student are categorized as the opposition, and classified as uncaring brutes. While Kohl is completely convincing as an ardent...
...Kohl's most endearing trait is his straight-forward, bluntly honest voice--one might surmise that after thirty years experience with school-age children, the author's gift for clearing out needless discourse has been honed to a razor's edge. Simple diction, while vital for pedantry, has its drawbacks in the modern non-fiction market: every once in a while Kohl's hand can be felt patting the reader on the head, as if recruiting another kindergartner into his throngs of supporters. This is not to say that condescension (if it can be called such) is not totally displeasing...
...whole, Kohl's naivete and charm more than make up for his one-sided judgments. The passion he develops in the reader for elementary school is completely infectious and equally uplifting, while his students are more often than not downright cute (case in point, the Pee-Wee song: "I'm a Pee Wee / You're a Boo Boo / Get the heck out of here"). In spite of the flaws present in his approach or the occasional Elijian woe-is-me depression, Kohl's enthusiasm and unbroken spirit motivate and inspire, giving a bright point of light in the oft-maligned...